


How to Deal

by exfatalist



Series: How-To Guides [3]
Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alien Biology, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Civil War (Marvel), First Time, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Self-Lubrication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 06:13:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/745215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exfatalist/pseuds/exfatalist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Young Avengers take sides during Registration and suffer the consequences. When it's all over, Billy has to suffer the consequences at home, too.</p><p>- </p><p>Young Avengers set in an Omegaverse, though Civil War and Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Deal

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : This story contains underage, consensual sex between two minors. Additionally, there is a situation within that can be viewed as non-con. Please see the footnotes for complete details.

Things happened fast. 

One minute, he was being arrested for violation of the Registration Act and the next he was teleporting an entire armed transport to a secret location. 

One minute, the team was on monitoring duty in a safehouse and the next they were in LA, getting their asses handed to them. 

One minute, Teddy was being sliced open by a scalpel and the next they were safe back in New York.

Everything moved quickly, leaving Billy feeling sick and dizzy and waiting for his brain to catch up.

"You could always get piercings," Teddy suggested. 

The two of them were settled into one corner of the safehouse, having survived the dressing down of all dressing downs from Captain America, and Teddy had a first aid kit open by his knee, swabbing something sharp-smelling and painful over the surgically pierced lobes of Billy's ears. Billy had yet to perfect the healing touch he'd personally felt the Scarlet Witch use on him once, some time ago now, and it was just down to his boyfriend and resident body modification expert to help him now that the Warden's audio dampening devices had been removed. Karolina was none too gentle when pulling them out, but nothing had ripped or torn, so Billy couldn't complain.

“My mom would kill me,” Billy pointed out tiredly, thinking about what his mother would say if he came home with three piercings in each ear - and how it would probably be something arch and critical of how he was letting Teddy’s personal style influence his own. She wouldn’t be upset about the modification, no matter what his bubbe would say, just that he was compromising his individual identity to mesh better with that of his boyfriend.

"Pretty sure she'd be more interested in killing you over running away and joining an underground Anti-Registration resistance force," Teddy pointed out logically. He swabbed up over the top of Billy's ear, near punctured cartilage, and caused Billy to flinch in pain. “Sorry. These, uh, these two up here would be good for an industrial. Maybe just on one side, though.”

Billy could tell that Teddy was worried, but the holes were pinpricks compared to what he saw the Warden do to his boyfriend. He wasn’t sure if he could ever fully express to Teddy how horrible it was to see him bleeding like that - to watch his organs shift even while his skin healed up again and again - and he wasn’t sure if he ever should. Teddy was sort of innocent, he hadn’t felt any pain and his wounds healed almost immediately with no lasting damage, as if he had just been tossed around by an everyday villain and was ready for round two. It was Billy who had been made to watch, been taunted and egged on into a lapse of judgment, and he can’t help but think that that had been the point.

“Maybe,” he finally answered, for the sake of actually answering, his hand on the freshly restored fabric of Teddy’s costume. He had no problem with restoring things, with fixing clothes and broken objects, and it was like Teddy’s costume had never been cut to shreds at the gut to get at the flesh beneath. Just like Teddy’s hopeful, concerned smile belied a similar restoration of his person. 

Teddy set the antiseptic-soaked cotton swab aside and cupped Billy’s face in both hands. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, as directly as he had ever asked anything, brow knit together in concern.

Billy wanted to lie just as much as he wanted to give Teddy an honest answer. He wanted to put Teddy’s concerns to rest, but didn’t want to set himself up for a standard of fine to which he wouldn’t be able to live. 

Luckily, he didn’t need to answer at all. Vision cut the conversation short, summoning the group with information that there was an emergency in progress at Geffen-Meyer Chemicals that outweighed the need for secrecy.

◊

Things happened _too_ fast.

He didn’t see the tranq darts coming, could only stare numbly down at his chest and assess the situation in the split second before his knees gave out.

Billy didn’t even feel himself hit the ground.

When he began to come to, he anticipated being back in Nick Fury’s underground safehouse, hearing Captain America shout himself hoarse, completely unironically, about how ‘ _these kids needed more damn training_.’ What he found, however, was his toes dragging the ground, rubber squeaking lightly on metal, as he was escorted by two SHIELD agents through the narrow hallway of a cell block. He tried to speak, tried to ask where he was and where they were taking him, but realized a moment later he was being gagged to keep his powers in check.

The steel collar, which clamped over his mouth and chin to keep him quiet, wasn’t removed until he was shoved into one of the cells in the block. It was a painfully small affair, with an uncomfortable looking cot along one wall and a toilet shoved into the corner. The only bars were over the small window in the top of the door and the lighting was dim, making the whole room that much more bleak. 

SHIELD may have gotten an update from the Cube, or maybe they figured it out on their own, but Billy soon became aware that the cell was filled with a sort of white noise that drown out his own voice when he attempted to speak. It didn’t stop him from trying, but after what felt like hours of sitting in the corner, repeating words for a spell he couldn’t hear, Billy finally gave up.

Going almost straight from the hellish nightmare that had been a single night at the Cube to being thrown in prison was, in a word, heartbreaking. His ears still throbbed from the pain of having them pierced through with the Warden’s audio dampening devices, there were tiny little aches throughout his body (probably where the tranq needles hit him before everything went black back at the chemical plant), and he was bruised or sore in places he didn’t know he had. For a while after giving up on trying to get out, all Billy could do was curl in on himself and fight the urge to break. This wasn’t what he signed up for - this wasn’t what he thought would happen when it came down to taking sides over Registration - and, as much as he hated himself for thinking it, there was probably something to the idea that he was too young and too naive to be a superhero.

It gnawed at him, the idea that he fucked up somehow, and long after he’d shed the last tears he could spare for the situation, Billy couldn’t help but think about it. Registration wasn’t right, becoming the strongarm of whatever administration was in power and being wielded as a bureaucratic weapon wasn’t what being a hero was about. They couldn’t help people if they were busy being pawns pushed around by the government. It was so easy to still believe that, to still believe everything Captain America said, but the stirring speeches Cap was great for jarred discordantly with his own thoughts on the subject: fuck up, stupid kid, _weak little omega_. How he could have thought in a million years that he could do something like this, that he could be a hero and save anyone, was beyond him.

Hours drug on as he berated and belittled himself and Billy watched with growing apathy as meals were brought and later taken away uneaten. He eventually conceded to his exhaustion and slept, but it was fitful. It took what felt like days for his apathy to bow to hunger and entice him to eat, then more days still to actually think constructively about his situation.

It occurred to him that he had no idea how long he had actually been there. The guards changed what felt like every few hours, but he had missed several of those changes when he first arrived. Billy found himself counting how many times the changes happened, then how many meals he was given, to try to piece together the passage of time. It proved futile, in the end, when he lost count. There were just too many numbers.

The only solid measure of time he had was waking up with feverish chills, chest heaving and ass dripping with more than just the cold sweat running down his back. He couldn’t hear himself, but every nerve ending in his body ached with need and Billy knew he made noise enough to express it. He had never experienced a full heat that wasn’t controlled, had never been off his suppressants for long enough to let a heat run its course without something clinical to take the edge off, and it was worse than he’d imagined it would be.

Somehow, in the back of his addled mind, he still managed to do the math. If this was happening, if it was time for his heat, then it had been three months. Three whole months and no one had come for him, no one had spoken to him, no one had given him the opportunity to contact his parents or a lawyer or _anything_. It couldn’t have been that long, not logically. How was that possible? 

He couldn’t hear his own distressed sobbing, but for a while it distracted him from the shame and need seeping into every other part of his body. He was achingly hard, wetter than he ever had been, and torn between feeling disgusted with himself and being unapologetic about his body.

Billy buried his face against the scratchy fabric of his cot and thought about Teddy. He tried to remember the way his boyfriend smelled, the aroma of his shampoo and that special fragrance that wasn’t alpha scent or cologne, but just uniquely Ted. Billy thought about the warm weight of Teddy’s hands on the small of his back, about the glimpses of skin he’d seen, about the way Teddy’s lips felt against his own.

It was shameful, he felt guilty about it, but when all that wasn’t enough he thought about the night they accidentally fell asleep in his room watching _Lord of the Rings_ and he woke up the next morning with the surprising girth of Teddy’s erection pressing obscenely against his ass as they spooned. It had been mortifying at the time, they hadn’t managed to look each other in the eye all morning afterward, but suddenly it was exactly what Billy needed and he was just desperate enough to beg for it. The white noise of the cell swallowed up his plea, so he didn’t have to hear it himself, but he still knew what he was asking for - and that it was a desire that would not be granted.

Secretly, Billy always wondered if Teddy would be enough, if they could work past his hormones and the difference in their biology to make it work. They had never tried, either because it was too awkward to find privacy at home or because neither of them wanted to be disappointed by the reality of it. When Billy had his doubts, he thought about just staying on suppressants forever, regardless of the risk. He would only ever have controlled heats and only ever have Teddy without biological imperative getting in the way. When he was feeling optimistic about things, Billy thought he could maybe just imprint on Teddy’s unique scent and that would be enough for his full-fledged heats. He wouldn’t need any alpha, he wouldn’t need anyone but Teddy.

Now, with Teddy being the only person he could think about even in a sea of alpha superheroes, the sliver of hope it welled up in Billy’s chest hurt. It warred with the negativity that had rooted itself in his heart since he found himself in the cell, but the thought wouldn’t be dimmed by it. He could think of a thousand reasons why they were doomed and a thousand more ways it would never work out, but the knowledge that all he wanted was his boyfriend, even with his body working against him, wouldn’t diminish.

Billy circled his hips, pressing his painfully hard cock into the thin bedding of the cot, letting the friction drag a noise from his throat he couldn’t hear. He thought about that morning in bed with Teddy hard against him, he thought about the delicate way Teddy held him when he was Hulkling, he thought about large, gentle hands and warm breath on his skin. It was almost enough, even without outright touching himself, and Billy clawed at the rough blanket, his breathing harsh and ragged as he fucked into the mattress and imagined Teddy behind him, over him, inside him.

He called Teddy’s name, again and again, louder and until his throat hurt, just trying to hear himself and bridge that distance between them. It was as if hearing Teddy’s name would make it all better, would settle something inside of him and make it _right_.

Close, right on the edge, and the white noise was cut through like thick paper, the heavy metal door of his cell clunking open. Billy froze, shaking with the effort to keep himself still, his cheeks bright red and forehead dripping with sweat.

“Hello, Wiccan,” a voice greeted, deep and clear even above the dull tone that drowned out his own words and the harsh rush of blood past his ears. It was Hank Pym. He was desperately trying to get off, trying to come with Teddy’s name on his lips, and _goddamn Yellow Jacket_ was standing in the doorway, looking more concerned than Billy thought was wholly realistic.

He said nothing, didn’t even bother to try, and could only watch in a mix of horror and embarrassment as Pym stepped further into the cell. The heavy door thudded closed behind him and Billy’s embarrassment dropped away, leaving just horror and the sick twist of his stomach in its wake. Pym smelled like beta, that disgustingly sweet and placating scent every beta who ever tried to insinuate themselves into Billy's life wore. He hated that scent, hated the way those skulking assholes put it on to try to calm him down, try to coerce him. There was something else there in Pym’s scent, something that threw it off slightly and made Billy’s nose wrinkle, but he couldn’t put his hand on it, didn’t want to.

“You should have called a guard,” Pym was saying, his voice gentle and easy enough make Billy want to vomit.

Billy sat up, pulled his legs to his chest, and hardly blinked for watching Pym unwaveringly.

Pym was still talking. “The Negative Zone can take a toll on the human body. Our perception of time and emotional balance are altered here. It's fascinating, really. You feel the passage of time differently and your body compensates by triggering a heat, but it hasn't been that long since you came here. Two weeks, I believe."

He helped himself to the edge of Billy’s cot with a smile that was probably supposed to be reassuring. It might have been, on any other face, but Billy distrusted most of the Pro-Reg crowd on principal now.

"All of the wardens and guards have protective measures, so none of the Negative Zone's ill effects phase us," Pym continued to explain, his voice too kind for how close he was sitting. "But we do make allowances for human biology for our inmates."

Pym shifted closer, reaching out a hand to Billy, as easy as one might be with a rearing stallion. "Here," he said gently, coercively. 

“Don’t touch me!” Billy shouted - maybe shouted, he still couldn’t hear himself - and pressed back against the wall in an attempt to avoid the touch.

“Wiccan,” Pym countered patiently. “ _Billy_ \- may I call you Billy? - I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help.”

He kept reaching and there was nowhere else for Billy to go, pressed back into the corner of the cot that was shoved into the corner of the cell. Billy closed his eyes tightly and turned his head, feeling hot tears spill down his cheeks. “Please,” he begged, words and sobs spilling out of him with little concern or shame. “Please don’t. I - I’ve never - I don’t want - _please_ , just leave me alone.”

It did little to deter Pym. Unable to move further away, Billy could only sit, shaking, as Pym's cool fingers touched his throat. There was a terrifying moment where he hated himself for exposing his neck, for submitting, and thought about it being wrenched, choked, _forced_.

But Pym only touched lightly, stroking his skin in a way Billy barely felt. It took him a long moment to realize that Pym was applying something to his neck, something that felt like a band-aid. When it was over, when the touch was gone, Billy blinked his eyes open and looked at Pym past the tears.

Pym just sat on the edge of the cot, his brow creased with more concern than Billy expected.

“It’s a suppressant patch,” Pym explained. He patted the pockets of his lab coat and, after a moment, offered Billy the open end of a packet of tissues. “It has a quicker release than regular pills. And a mild sedative. You'll feel much better when you wake in a few hours."

Billy didn’t take a tissue, but not for lack of trying. His hands were suddenly far too heavy to lift and he was having trouble focusing on Pym. The man said his name, twice, but the room was sliding sideways. 

Pym caught him before he slumped off the cot and gently helped him to lie down properly. Billy's skin crawled at the touch, still very much unwanted, even knowing that Pym was genuinely attempting to help him by the very medical definition of the word. 

Once settled onto the cot, with the scratchy blanket pulled up around him, Pym stood over him for a moment longer than Billy thought was entirely necessary. He blinked, long and exhausted, and felt something soft blotting the tears from his cheeks. His eyes barely opened and he couldn't tell if the soft material was a tissue or the edge of Pym's lab coat sleeve.

As much as he wanted to question the gesture, the next blink was so long it brought about a fitful, sedated slumber.

◊

After the final battle, after Captain America surrendered, the team accepted the general amnesty extended to all the anti-registration superheroes and helped with the clean-up. Before too many questions could be asked, before they had a run-in with Cassie or anyone asked them to join the Army, they split up and went separate ways, promising to meet back at the clubhouse.

Bishop Publishing was empty when Billy and Teddy arrived - and it felt weird, coming back to the place they all worked so hard to build, knowing nothing would ever be the same.

Billy was dead on his feet and couldn't think about much else but sleep. He'd been running on pure adrenaline since the final battle and had been emotionally exhausted well before that, holed up in a tiny cell in the Negative Zone, so the idea of just shutting his eyes and resting was so good.

Unfortunately, it was just an idea, because his body refused to relax, refused to believe in the safety of amnesty and that it was finally okay to let his guard down a little. Even with Teddy there, even with someone to have his back, Billy couldn't stop long enough to let himself sleep.

They had fallen into one of the upstairs beds together, still mostly in costume, and after a few listless minutes, Billy wiggled out from under Teddy's arm and sat up on the edge of the bed. There was something there, lingering, that made his stomach knot up and he couldn't pinpoint what it was. The last wisps of a scent, the lingering discomfort of a heat quickly suppressed, or just the uncomfortable feeling of their entire lives being uprooted and turned on their heads - again.

"Hey," Teddy said gently, surprised, watching as Billy stood and almost tripped over their combined boots.

Billy began properly stripping out of all the more difficult parts of his costume he had forgone when sleep seemed like an inevitable conclusion, taking off gloves and gauntlets and dropping them to join his boots and cloak on the floor next to the bed. "Can't sleep," he explained. "Feel weird."

Teddy sat up, looking concerned even in the dimness of the bedroom, and reached out to grasp the zipper of Billy's costume to pull it down his back far enough for Billy to properly grab it, himself. "Want some warm milk?"

Billy laughed, genuinely and for the first time in weeks, shaking his head a little. "Yeah, that's not totally disgusting."

He tugged the zipper the rest of the way down and struggled out of the skin tight fabric, not really thinking about it until he heard Teddy's breathing change with a soft gasp. Then standing there in his underpants was kind of embarrassing and Billy was glad it was too dark for Teddy to see him blush.

"I feel pretty gross," he admitted, which probably - definitely - cut any sort of sexual tension off at the pass. "I think I'm gonna get a shower."

Teddy hesitated, slid right to the edge of the bed, and agreed, "I need one of those, too. I still smell like that pheromone spray."

Billy froze, then, and turned to give Teddy a confused look, all his embarrassment forgotten in light of broader concerns. "What?"

"I'm sorry," Teddy blurted out just as quickly, reaching out to take Billy's hand. "Cap had me infiltrate the Initiative's Arizona training camp as Dr. Pym. So I could get into 42. Get to _you_. I had to wear this pheromone spray to pass as beta.”

Suddenly, Billy felt sick with relief. His knees were rubbery and he sank down onto Teddy’s lap with a long, gusty sigh. “It was you. You were Pym.”

Teddy enveloped him in strong, steady arms and pulled Billy close, burying his face against Billy’s hair and nodding. “I’m sorry I scared you,” he murmured, heartfelt and a little afraid. “God, Billy, I’m _so_ sorry. They just - had cameras everywhere and I had to _be_ Dr. Pym and - all the guards were talking about you going into heat and watching from the security station and I had to _do_ something, or I would’ve broken all their legs. Or - or they would have - ”

Teddy didn’t finish his sentence, but Billy knew exactly what he meant. As distressed as Billy had been in the moment, he appreciated Teddy risking so much to care for him.

“I know,” he assured, turning his head to rest it on Teddy’s shoulder and just take advantage of their proximity and the embrace and how warm Teddy felt. It didn’t take long for the reality to sink in and for the disconcerting feeling Billy felt earlier to be tracked to the subtle stench of beta beneath the smell of Teddy’s sweat and all the grime from the battle. He sat back up and gave his boyfriend an imploring look. “You really do need a shower. Sorry.”

Apparently not insulted in the least, Teddy just smiled and tilted his head toward the door to the adjoining bathroom. “We could both ... ” he said, his tone leading, without the ability to finish the new sentence, much like his last.

Billy hadn’t been able to reconcile himself with the idea of showers being something sexual - not after too many agonizing gym classes, not after being bullied about his body - and Teddy seemed to have some idea that it might be, if the lift of his eyebrows was any indication. It just seemed too weird, too stark, with bright fluorescent lighting and cold tile.

“I don’t know,” Billy finally admitted, carefully extricating himself from the embrace and sliding off Teddy’s lap to stand. “I’m feeling pretty gross and - ”

Teddy shook his head, smiling. “Say no more. It was just a thought. Why don’t you get a shower and I’ll head downstairs to raid the kitchen? I’m pretty sure soup and grilled cheese will work just as well as warm milk.”

It wasn’t the first time that Billy was struck with how in love with Teddy he was, but it helped, immensely, to be reminded in the aftermath of everything that had happened. It was normal and it was _good_ to feel normal again.

Billy headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, locking the door across the way that led into the next bedroom just to be assured of the fact that the room was in some way secure. He took a while to find all the soaps and shampoos, towels and washcloths, before stepping behind the glass partition and steaming up the whole room with a long shower.

When he finally emerged from the bathroom, towel slung low around his hips, Billy found Teddy already showered. His hair was still damp on his forehead and he’d changed into boxers and an old t-shirt that was ripped in places, where he’d nearly hulked out of it before. Teddy wore an almost sheepish expression, with what looked suspiciously like a mixing bowl full of soup and a plate of no less than _four_ grilled cheese sandwiches sitting on the nightstand, one with a few bites taken out of it already.

Teddy offered him a set of folded clothes, something spare Billy had brought over to the clubhouse in case he needed them, and Billy shyly slipped back into the bathroom to get dressed. Eventually, they both settled back down into bed, Billy nestled in the circle of Teddy’s arms, alternately eating soup from the same bowl or sharing bites of grilled cheese sandwiches, while watching late night television on a channel as far away from a news station as they could get.

Things were nice and Teddy smelled _normal_ again, but Billy still felt restless. It might have been the too familiar surroundings after so long spent in strange places or the fact that they were both steadily ignoring what happened to the fight against registration, while all their fears about it remained, but Billy couldn’t settle. Even when the food was gone and the volume of the television turned down to a soft whisper, with Teddy steadily starting to drift off behind him, Billy couldn’t seem to let go and give in. It was frustrating and the frustration started to build.

It wasn’t until a restless shift pressed him back against Teddy in a way that inspired a soft moan, warm breath on the back of his neck sending a very precise chill down his spine, that Billy realized why he might be having a problem.

“Teddy?”

“Nnn?”

“That patch,” Billy began, awkwardly, “what was it supposed to do?”

“Suppressants,” Teddy slurred, tightening his arms around Billy and spooning up behind him warmly. “Double the oral dose. And a mild sedative.”

It made sense, Billy thought. It wasn’t too long after Teddy, disguised as Pym, drugged him that things went pear-shaped in prison and the cells opened up. He had felt rested, refreshed, and not at all like he was about to crawl out of his skin when he woke up. Now, on the other hand ...

“I take suppressant pills every eight hours,” he pointed out, trying to keep casual. “For the duration of my heat.”

“Right,” Teddy answered drowsily. “Double one of those doses. With a sedative.”

Billy didn’t answer, at first, just waiting for Teddy to think it through.

Once Teddy did, he pushed up on his elbow in a flash and curled his arm protectively around Billy. “Shit,” he sputtered, blinking rapidly to wake himself up. It was actually the first time Billy had ever heard him curse. “Do you - I just thought once we got back to Earth, it would be - _shit_. What should I do? I can sneak back home and get your pills or - wait - is there a pharmacy near here? I could call Kate and - ” 

Billy didn’t expect the laughter that bubbled up in his chest and Teddy looked a little offended to be laughed at, when he was taking things so seriously. 

“Sorry,” Billy assured, turning in Teddy’s embrace to face him. “It’s just, I don’t know, not that bad. It doesn’t hurt, I’m not going out of my mind, I’m just - really, _really_... ”

He didn’t say it, but Teddy looked surprised, then pleased after a look of realization passed over his features. “Oh,” Teddy answered. “Oh, well. Um.”

“I never wanted our first time to be during a heat,” Billy explained, quickly, because it was embarrassing when he put it out there like that, “but this is different. Maybe now that we’re back on Earth my body is adjusting, but I don’t feel like - anything like I usually do. It’s just, I don’t know ... like I’ve spent all day thinking about you, missing you, _wanting_ you, and you’ve finally come home.”

“So, just - _really_ \- horny,” Teddy decided as he leaned down, but didn’t quite bring his lips close enough for a kiss.

Billy whined softly, arching up. The kiss he gave Teddy, demanding and thorough, was more than enough answer for the both of them. Teddy returned the kiss and took his time to make it _good_ , parting his lips and slowly licking past Billy’s own, tasting him. His hand moved to rest warmly on Billy’s stomach above his t-shirt, the tease of _almost_ having skin to skin contact ramping up Billy’s anticipation a notch.

Unlike previous occasions, unlike in his cell back in prison before the patch of suppressants knocked him out cold, Billy felt clear-headed and certain. He wasn’t just acting on impulse, because his body demanded it, and that was always how he wanted it to be. He hated the idea that there might come a time when he wasn’t in control, when he only agreed because he needed it, rather than wanted it, even if it was with Teddy.

Teddy’s hand dipped beneath the hem of his shirt and Billy forgot whatever he’d been thinking about, tense and focused on the warmth of Teddy’s hand on his bare skin. 

“Can I ... ?” Teddy asked when he pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard against Billy’s lips. When Billy nodded, Teddy pushed his shirt up and helped Billy off with it. The way he raised his head and openly admired Billy’s chest was kind of embarrassing. 

“You next,” Billy countered, for something constructive to do that wasn’t blushing like an idiot. He reached up and grasped the back of Teddy’s shirt, dragging it up and over his head. Teddy laughed, but sat up enough to oblige. 

Billy pulled him back down almost immediately, Teddy still laughing softly, and fitted them together from torso to hip. He could get used to the way Teddy’s skin felt on his, soft and so warm.

Teddy kissed him again and it was slow and familiar, even in the unknown territory of partial undress. It kept him grounded, focused, even when Teddy shifted and the press of his erection was right there, in the crease of Billy’s thigh, hard and insisting on stealing away his attention. Teddy felt _huge_ , even without the benefit of being alpha, and Billy wasn’t sure if he was nervous or relieved or both. 

Then Teddy’s lips were moving and Billy felt compelled to tilt his head back, giving Teddy room - and encouragement - to kiss down his chin and neck. It wasn’t unfamiliar, Teddy had given him his fair share of hickies, but it still made Billy’s shoulders hunch and another laugh bubble up in his chest, equal parts ticklish and embarrassed by how much he loved the way Teddy made him feel.

But Teddy went lower, still, and a surprised moan replaced Billy’s laughter. The noise was even more embarrassing than being ticklish, but the way Teddy reacted to it, the way he looked up from kissing Billy’s chest, cheeks flushed and lips parted in a pleased smile, was worth the embarrassment.

“Billy,” Teddy murmured, about the time he made it down Billy’s stomach, nosing at his belly button and fingering the elastic band of Billy’s boxers. The way his voice sounded, deep and wanting, made Billy ache. “Can I?” Teddy asked again, the pleased smile shifting into a soft, innocent look and Billy nodded before he’d even parsed the question.

Fingers slid beneath the waistband of his boxers and Billy lifted his hips to aid in Teddy removing them, simultaneously mortified and relieved at the feeling of damp fabric peeling away from his skin. With the boxers gone, with nothing between him and his boyfriend’s scrutiny, Billy felt exposed for the few seconds between Teddy just looking at him and resting both hands on Billy’s bare thighs. 

“You’re beautiful,” Teddy murmured, in that open, honest way he said a lot of things.

Billy laughed and draped one arm over his face, covering his eyes and effectively blotting out his far too kind boyfriend. “You’re a dork,” he countered.

Teddy laughed, but his hands were steady as they slid up Billy’s thighs and settled on his hips, Teddy’s thumbs doing something amazing to the soft skin just beneath Billy’s hipbones. “I’m serious, B. You’re - wow.”

He was hard and leaking against his stomach, as wet as he ever was during a heat or after browsing /y/, and Teddy was calling him _beautiful_. Billy lifted his arm and peeked at his boyfriend from under it, surprised to find Teddy waiting patiently for him, smiling.

“You next?” Billy wondered, because he couldn’t quite find the words to say what he wanted to, to say that he was glad Teddy saw him like that, saw him as more than just his scent or his ass.

For the first time, Teddy looked nervous. He drew his hands back and hesitated before sliding down his boxers, a blush working its way down from Teddy’s cheeks to color his shoulders and chest in pink splotches. Billy followed the blush, taking in Teddy’s broad chest and gorgeous abs, the blond trail of hair leading all the way down to his -

“ _Fuck_ ,” Billy sputtered. 

He was _gorgeous_. Daunting, but gorgeous, with blond curls of pubic hair and girth Billy thought he might have trouble getting his whole hand around, the reddened head of Teddy’s cock partially obscured by foreskin. 

Teddy blushed more, pink blossoming into red, and he spent an awkward moment fumbling with his boxers before tossing them over the side of the bed. “I can, uh, make it smaller,” he admitted. “Or - different. You know. Shapeshifter. And, er, all that.”

“No!” Billy exclaimed. It was his turn to blush after that. “No, I - don’t want you to change for me. Not ever, Teddy.”

Teddy’s hands went right back to Billy’s hips, his thumbs brushing lightly again, and he looked - actually, relieved. His smile was soft, the blush fading back into a light pink across his cheekbones. “Ever?”

Billy shook his head and reached down to cover one of Teddy’s hand with his own. “Ever,” he assured. “I want you for who you are, not ... not whoever you can become for me.”

Teddy leaned back down against him, covering Billy with his whole body, and kissed him wildly, all the slow burn and patience giving way to something intense and needful, as if all Teddy ever really wanted was that kind of reassurance at this particular moment. It made Billy’s chest ache, knowing that they both wanted exactly the same thing - to be loved for who, not what, they were.

His hand founds its way to Teddy’s hair, fingers grasping for purchase to hold them both there, in that kiss, until his lungs screamed for air and he had to break for breath. Teddy was panting hard against his mouth, rocking his hips to press the hot length of his cock against the crease of Billy’s thigh. It was different without even the thin fabric of boxers between them and Billy wanted _more_. He raised his hips and made a surprised, pleased sound when Teddy reached between them and encircled his cock in one large hand.

“What do you need, B?” Teddy asked and his voice was practically a purr. Billy could hardly think, listening to the way it rumbled in Teddy’s chest and feeling the way Teddy touched him, stroked him, the angle and friction completely different from the way he touched himself and so, so good.

When Billy didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, Teddy tilted his head and kissed along Billy’s jaw. “We don’t have to go all the way,” he said, like it was a promise, like Billy needed reassurance of that, too. “I’ve always wanted to go down on you.”

Hearing Teddy say that - because Teddy Altman was the polite, well-mannered boy who hardly ever cursed and had impeccable table manners and used _please_ and _thank you_ like he was programmed to - was almost enough to make Billy come right then and there. He arched his back and thrust into Teddy’s hand, something broken and half-sobbing escaping his lips.

Teddy soothed him, gentled his touch and kissed Billy’s throat, until he could speak. “Want you inside me,” Billy finally admitted. He needed it, but not with the same biological imperative he needed it back in the Negative Zone. He wanted it so badly it _became_ a need, became a driving force and the focus of all his attention, until his desire and Teddy’s desire were all that mattered.

The blond made a noise that stole Billy’s breath, rocking his hips harder, the head of his cock slick against Billy’s skin. Reluctantly, Teddy slowed his hand and uncurled his fingers from Billy’s length, slipping down further between them. He cupped Billy’s balls in his palm and let his fingers slide further back, behind, hesitating before he touched further. 

Raising his head, Teddy looked down at Billy, his eyes dark with arousal. “Have you ever ... touched yourself like this?”

Billy nodded and watched Teddy hesitate further, then reached down between them to lay his hand over Teddy’s own. He fitted his fingers against the backs of Teddy’s fingers, guiding him until the middle fingertip pressed against his slick hole. “Your hands are big,” Billy said softly, feeling stupider by the minute as he helped Teddy circle his finger. 

“I’ll be - ” Teddy said, interrupting himself with a soft gasp as the tip of his finger slid inside. “ - gentle.”

Teddy was so gentle. He eased one finger in, nice and slow, swallowing up all the little noises Billy made with a kiss. He worked his finger at an agonizing pace and Billy felt like a mess, on the verge of begging for more, his cheeks hot with a mix of pleasure and shame at the slick sounds of Teddy adding a second finger alongside his first. Billy had only ever tried two fingers, himself, and already felt stretched beyond capacity by the added thickness of Teddy’s. 

The first nudge of a third digit had Billy arching off the bed, flinging an arm around Teddy’s neck to pull him close. He tried to relax, really tried, and ended up burying his face against Teddy’s shoulder, moaning and panting as he worked himself down on the thick stretch of three of his boyfriend’s fingers.

“ _Billy_ ,” Teddy moaned against his ear, sounding almost as far gone as Billy felt. “You’re so wet.”

It should have been embarrassing, but it wasn’t. He squeezed around Teddy’s fingers, pulling a low moan from Teddy’s throat, and answered, “Want you inside me, Ted. _Now_.”

Teddy took a moment to parse that information, to slowly slide his fingers free and scramble a little getting to his knees. In the bedside table drawer was a box of condoms, because someone was looking out for them when it came to stocking the clubhouse, and Teddy struggled with the first two wrappers before Billy sat up and helped him, with steadier hands. 

Billy found, to his surprise, that he didn’t have a problem getting a hand around Teddy’s cock and he spent a long moment just stroking him once the condom was on, watching Teddy’s eyes close and his expression contort in pleasure. When he settled back amongst the pillows and grabbed one to shove under his hips, Teddy looked surprised. 

“I’m not presenting for you, T,” Billy deadpanned.

It snapped Teddy out of his surprise and renewed the blush on his cheeks. “Sorry,” he said, fumbling the word as he moved to settle between Billy’s thighs again. “I thought - it was easier that way? I don’t know.”

Billy knew exactly what Teddy meant, because he’d always seen it like that on the Internet, with sopping wet omegas begging on hands and knees for huge alpha knots, but that wasn’t who Billy wanted to be and this - this was _different_. This was them, just them and no categories.

“I want to kiss you,” Billy said, instead of the long explanation, and it was more than enough to wipe the embarrassment off Teddy’s face and bring back his smile. 

Teddy leaned in and they shared a kiss, equal parts soft and sweet and obscene, with the way Teddy’s cock kept bumping and sliding against Billy’s ass from their positioning. He finally shifted impatiently, inspiring Teddy to reach down and grasp himself, pressing the blunt head of his cock against Billy’s hole and nudging forward gently.

Billy found himself grasping Teddy’s shoulder again, willing himself to relax again, for long, difficult moments. “Keep going,” he urged, when Teddy would hesitate or stop altogether, an unspoken question on his boyfriend’s lips or in the concerned tilt of his head. “Please, Ted.”

It was more intense than Billy could have imagined, more completely filling than three of Teddy's fingers, and it took time to adjust to having Teddy inside him, buried to the hilt, once his boyfriend's hips were pressed warm against his ass. Teddy seemed like he needed a moment, too, and spent it holding perfectly still, just kissing Billy softly, desperately, while Billy clung to him and waited.

The first tentative rock of Teddy's hips had Billy seeing stars. He closed his eyes and lost himself and his answering moan in the kiss they shared, begging for more with the half-heard inflection of his voice. Teddy eased himself into giving Billy more, carefully building on his rhythm until he drew back, almost completely out, and thrust forward in a way that threatened to punch the air from Billy's lungs.

His blunt nails dug into Teddy's shoulders on both sides, clinging desperately, and he tipped his head back, away from the kiss, to suck in greedy breaths and beg for more. "Please, please, please, I want - " 

Teddy slid one arm under him, pulling them that much closer together, and gave Billy exactly what he asked for: quick, hard thrusts that left them both breathless. Billy couldn't last long, not stretched and filled and with Teddy's cock brushing precariously close to something deeper inside him, but it took Teddy reaching between them and wrapping his hand around Billy's length again to bring him right to the edge. His back arched off the bed and he thrust up once into the circle of Teddy's fingers, coming embarrassingly quickly. 

"Billy, _Billy_ ," Teddy moaned, burying his face right against the crook of Billy's neck as he kept going, working into him with short, quick thrusts, Teddy’s whole body tense and his breathing labored. 

It was almost too much, too overwhelming, when Teddy’s angle changed and he was brushing that perfect spot inside him with each thrust. Billy gripped him tight, tensing and clenching around his length, and Teddy gave one last thrust, burying himself deep. It was only when Teddy released the breath he held that he made a sound, something deep and resoundingly satisfied, the tension ebbing from his muscles as he relaxed against Billy.

Billy trembled as he came down from it, feeling like he had to learn to breathe all over again, and after what felt like ages they disentangled to find a more comfortable position. His legs felt stiff and Teddy was sluggish, fumbling with the condom, again, until Billy helped him with it. Rather than spooning up, Billy turned tiredly in the circle of Teddy’s embrace and nuzzled in against his neck, breathing his fill of Teddy’s scent once the blankets were over them.

He smelled wonderful, like soap and shampoo and sweat and musk. Beneath it all, Billy could detect a little of his own scent, probably just from how close they’d been, but it was comforting. Teddy tightened his arms around Billy and buried his nose in Billy’s hair, prompting Billy to wonder what it was like for him, to wonder if he smelled just as good to Teddy.

Billy was still wondering when he drifted off to a deep, boneless sleep in Teddy’s arms.

◊

It took two days after the final battle for either of them to work up the courage to go home. They waited until it was later, until after Billy’s brothers would have gone to bed, to let themselves into the condo. Mr. and Mrs. Kaplan were still awake, having their nightly coffee while watching the news, and the first sound of a key in the lock must have alerted them, as they were halfway to the door when Billy opened it.

Before he knew what was happening, Billy was swept up in a hug by his mother, who seemed intent on almost squeezing the life right out of him.

Over her head, Billy saw his dad gripping Teddy’s shoulder and Teddy’s corresponding guilty expression.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” his mom said, when she finally let him out of the hug and held him at arm’s length to give him a stern look. 

Billy nodded and reached back for Teddy’s hand, wanting reassurance and wanting to provide some to his boyfriend. “I’m sorry, mom,” he said. “We’ll do our best.”

It took a whole pot of coffee, with Billy adding more sugar than was strictly necessary to his while Teddy took his with just a little cream, and they sat around the kitchen table almost all night, but Billy told them everything he could: about getting arrested, being rescued by Captain America and Falcon, then going to LA to help the Pride’s kids and winding up in the Cube. By the time he described what he saw at the Cube, telling Teddy for the first time while telling his parents, Billy was too stressed to talk about what happened after that.

Teddy picked up from there, describing the set-up at Geffen-Meyer and how Billy was arrested, then how Cap had him infiltrate the Negative Zone prison and how awful the other dimension was for the prisoners. He was tactful, more tactful than Billy would have been, and didn’t describe how Billy reacted to the Negative Zone.

His parents had seen the news coverage of everything else, of Captain America surrendering and the other superheroes receiving a general amnesty to assist with the recovery. 

Teddy assured the Kaplans that neither of them wanted to join the army and, when pressed, Billy agreed that they wouldn’t be breaking any of the Registration laws while under their roof. Once they discussed the terms of Billy’s grounding - and Teddy voluntarily grounded himself, perhaps thinking the Kaplans had good standing to kick him out for his part in everything - they were both instructed to go to bed.

“Being grounded until my eighteenth birthday isn’t so bad,” Billy decided, pausing in the hallway outside his door. “All things considered.”

Teddy laughed softly and leaned in to kiss Billy’s cheek. “You are sixteen, going on seventeen.”

Billy gave him a playful shove. “Are you making a _Sound of Music_ reference and expecting me not to coerce you into watching it tomorrow?”

“If you can fit it in between all our chores,” Teddy agreed, “be my guest.”

“ _Bed, Billy_!” his mother called from the living room, having no doubt overheard their banter.

Billy hesitated, opening his bedroom room and lingering halfway through it. “Then _Beauty and the Beast_.”

Teddy grinned. “Pushing it.”

“Trying,” Billy agreed. There were sounds of footsteps on the stairs after that and Billy conceded to needing to go to bed. He lingered only as long as Teddy stayed in the hallway, but as soon as Teddy disappeared into his bedroom, Billy stepped back into his and shut the door.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Warnings (cont)** : This fic contains a scene of perceived non-con, wherein the main character feels threatened by the advances of another party in a position of power and fears for his safety, though his fears are ultimately unfounded. There is no actual non-con in the story, just the perception of it by the main character, which may be a trigger due to the perspective/context of the narrative.


End file.
